Google takes on AWS with $100K free cloud credits

Google will accept startups from select programs, including 500 Startups, TechStars and StartX

Google may have found the perfect way to successfully take on Amazon Web Services (AWS): give developers free stuff.

The company announced a new initiative at the Google for Entrepreneurs Global Partner Summit called Google Cloud Platform for Startups, and it is aimed at getting early stage start ups to host their apps on Google servers.

In order to lure them, Google is offering some pretty nice perks: not only 24/7 support, and access to Google's technical solutions team, but also $100,000 in Cloud Platform credits for one year. The offer is being made to startups through incubators, accelerators and investors.

To qualify for the credits, the company must have less than $5 million dollars in funding and have less than $500,000 in annual revenue. In addition they have to be in one of the approved accelrators, incubators or VC funds, and they cannot have received any previous Cloud Platform credits.

In all, Google said that it is currently working with over 50 global partners to provide this offer to startups, including 500 Startups, AngelPad, Code for America, TechStars, StartX, Seedcamp, SV Angel, Y Combinator and, of course, Google Ventures. Google is also promising that there will be even more partners to come.

"This offer supports our core Google Cloud Platform philosophy: we want developers to focus on code; not worry about managing infrastructure. Starting today, startups can take advantage of this offer and begin using the same infrastructure platform we use at Google," Julie Pearl, Director of Developer Relations at Google wrote.

With this move, Google is no doubt hoping it can replicate, and take on, the success of AWS, which is a top money maker for its parent company. In a conference call, following Amazon's most recent quarterly earnings report, Tom Szkutak, Chief Financial Officer at Amazon, noted that the service was seeing growth of nearly 90% year to year.

Google's plan here is simple: lure developers in with this offer, and perhaps away from AWS, and then keep them as lifelong customers.